Now, it wasn’t a very big increase, but it was some welcome good news to an economy where the central bank, cutting interest rates in a shock move last week, cautioned that even the disappointing new expectations of growth for this year (the bank is predicting 2.2-3.3 per cent; the government 2.7) are unlikely to be met. Read more

It had, it turns out, been too good to be true. After a positive start to the year, Brazil’s industrial production fell by 0.5 per cent in March from February and by 0.9 per cent in comparison with March 2013, national statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday.

The figures will add to the gloom in Brasília, after the central bank’s weekly survey of market economists on Monday showed the consensus on GDP growth during 2015 falling below 2 per cent for the first time, to 1.91 per cent. The outlook for this year is a marginally more dismal 1.63 per cent.

Brazil’s growth story, it seems, is failing to produce any happy endings. Read more

Mexico may be all the rage among investors. But praise the country in polite Mexican society and you risk running a gauntlet of abuse. John Authers, the FT’s investment columnist and a former Mexico bureau chief, describes the situation very well.

Certainly, President Pena Nieto’s reform agenda gets high marks for concept but low marks for delivery. Of his four biggest initiatives, the detail of telecom reform is still being worked out; ditto education; the fiscal reform was disappointing; and we don’t yet know the full shape of the energy reform. No wonder the understandable scepticism, then, of much local conversation – even if the intensity of that conversation has meant missing another problem that has not won the discussion it deserves. Read more

South Korea’s industrial output hit a nine-month high, adding to investor confidence in the country’s recovery. But not everything is rosy about Asia’s fourth-largest economy amid growing concerns over corporate financing problems. Read more

South Korea’s new president Park Geun-hye is full of promises to boost the services sector, but for now her government is relying on powerful manufacturers to help fulfil her growth promises. And they are proving reluctant to throw everything they have at the task, judging by data published on Tuesday.

Those hoping that April industrial production data out on Tuesday would provide some measure of comfort on the direction of Mexico’s economy would be sorely disappointed.

Industrial output in Latin America’s second largest economy fell 1.7 per cent compared to March in seasonally adjusted terms. The drop was the biggest monthly decline so far this year and the worst since December 2012 when it fell 2 per cent. Read more

Some relief on Tuesday for a Brazilian government getting desperate for signs of life in the economy: more motor vehicles were made in Brazil in April (340,865) than in any other month in history. Considering the auto sector makes up about a fifth of Brazilian industry, that’s got to be good news. Hasn’t it?

India’s industrial production data for the month of February has come in higher than expected. Industrial production rose 0.6 per cent year-on-year – a sharp contrast with analysts’ forecasts of a 0.7 per cent decline.

Looks like good news for an economy struggling to generate growth. But the headline figure doesn’t tell the whole story: it’s boosted by the volatile capital goods segment, which expanded 9.5 per cent. Basic goods output fell by 1.8 per cent, and intermediate goods production by 0.7 per cent. Read more

Is inflation getting out of control in Brazil? The national statistics office said on Thursday that consumer prices rose by 0.86 per cent in January, bringing the annual rate to 6.15 per cent. That’s up from 5.84 per cent in December and heading closer to the upper limit of the government’s tolerance range of 6.5 per cent, two percentage points above its inflation target.

The target, it seems, has been forgotten. And if industrial production figures out this week are any guide, it is unlikely to be remembered any time soon. Read more

The surprise decline in India’s industrial output in November, disclosed in figures published on Friday, was largely due to the Diwali holiday, when many businesses close for days.

Industrial production fell 0.1 per cent in November year-on-year basis, in stark contrast to revised growth of 8.3 per cent in October – when the figure was boosted by the fact that in 2011, Diwali fell in October.

Another dose of bad news for Hungary on Tuesday as industrial production figures for November showed a much sharper contraction than expected. Output fell by 6.9 per cent year on year, much worse than the consensus 3.5 per cent contraction.

It leaves the country facing a deepening recession just as the government has thrown caution to the wind and decided it can do without the support of an IMF loan. The chances of an adequate response seem limited given the changes about to take place at the top of the central bank. Read more

The conventional wisdom for the past six months has been that south-east Asia is pretty much the last man standing in the global economy.

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore have delivered decent growth, thanks to strong domestic demand and, even as the eurozone crisis and China’s deceleration have buffeted them.

South Korea’s economy is losing pace quickly as it battles strong headwinds from the US and Europe. Industrial output fell for the third consecutive month in August, adding to pressure for additional monetary stimulus.

Industrial output in fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.7 per cent from July, following a 1.9 per cent decline in July. Part of the fall was caused by a wave of strikes in the auto sector during the summer. But the downward trend is unlikely to be reversed any time soon. Read more

But having revised his own forecast down from 4 per cent to 2.5 per cent, Mantega (pictured) may have to take Credit Suisse more seriously. The latest weekly survey of market economists from Brazil’s central bank puts GDP growth at 1.57 per cent. Read more

As Mexicans gear up for this weekend’s celebrations of “El Grito” — “The Shout” — of independence, those who keep a close watch on the economy are puffing up their chests thanks to more good news.

The July industrial production figures published by the government on Tuesday showed a 4.9 per cent year-on-year increase. In seasonally adjusted terms, they also grew by 0.5 per cent on June.

Both figures exceeded most analysts’ expectations. They also compared favourably with those of Brazil, where industrial production fell by 1 per cent over the last four weeks and has been slipping faster since then. Read more

If anything though, Mantega’s response is a sign of just how bad things have got for the world’s second-biggest emerging market economy. June’s data was in fact the first rebound after three straight months of declining output. Read more

The stream of dispiriting economic news from South Korea shows no sign of abating. On Tuesday the country’s industrial production survey for June showed a 0.4 per cent monthly decline – undershooting the consensus forecast of a 0.1 per cent increase – and economists say the picture is likely to darken further.

The massive contribution of manufacturing exports to South Korea’s economy is, many would argue, the main factor in the country’s dizzying increase in prosperity over the past 50 years. But it also makes the country’s institutions and corporations particularly powerless in the face of an economic slowdown in its key markets: China, Europe and the US. Read more

The Polish economy is finally giving ground in the face of the blasts blowing from the eurozone. Having surprised economists with its resilience during much of the post-2008 global crisis, it delivered a bit of a shock on Wednesday with figures showing industrial production rose by only 1.2 per cent last month. Read more